Lounge furniture



June 21, 1966 A. c. MICHELSEN 3,256,533

LOUNGE FURNITURE Filed Aug. 13, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Axel fame/[us M'c/relsen A TTORNEYS.

June 21, 1966 A. c. MICHELSEN LOUNGE FURNITURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 13, 1963 mvsmon.

Axel Cornelius Misha/sen 5y null M F $1.1M

ATTOR NE YJ.

June 21, 1966 A. c. MICHELSEN LOUNGE FURNITURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 13, 1963 INVENTOR.

Axel Cornelius Hichelsen y W, jflflw m fi A TTORNEYS United States Patent The present invention relates to furniture of the type such as sofas or ottomans which may be used as a seat by day and as a bed by night. More specifically the invention relates to a lounge furniture having a seat portion and a hollow back serving as a magazine for bed-clothes, said back having at least a front part which is swingable around a longitudinal axis between a day position in which the magazine is closed and a night positionin which the magazine is accessible from the front side of the furniture.

It is an object of the invention to provide a lounge furniture of this type which is easily convertible from one function to the other and which enables the back part to remain substantially in the level of its day positio also in the night position thereof.

It is a special object of the invention to provide a lounge furniture having a hollow back which may be swung around from the day position to an inverted position in which the magazine is open against the seat portion and in which the effective breadth of the seat portion is greater than in the day position of said back.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lounge furniture having means enabling the movable back part thereof to be freely swung around from a stable initial position to an inverted position substantially in level with said initial position.

'Still a further object of the invention is to provide a lounge furniture having a magazine back incorporating sheet means for facilitating the handling of the bedclothes, said sheet means being secured to said magazine and adapted to cover the seat portion in the night condition as the lowermost layer of the bed-clothes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ottoman provided with a swingable back according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

"FIG. 2 a corresponding view shown with the back in an intermediate position,

FIG. 3 a similar view in which the swinging'of the back is shown initiated,

FIG. 4 a similar view of the nearer end of the ottoman shown with the back in inverted position,

FIG. 5 a view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing the back in inverted position in its initial level,

FIG. 6 a perspective front view of the ottoman in the night condition, shown without bed-clothes, and

FIG. 7 a corresponding view shown with the bedclothes held in the magazine.

The ottoman has a seat portion 10 built on a frame 12 with legs 14. A hollow back 16 having side pieces 18 and a top piece 20 but no bottom piece constitutes a magazine back for the ottoman. The side pieces 18 have central bearings 22 for pivot pins 24 rigidly mounted on inclined arms 26 being pivotally connected at 28 with the frame 12. As it appears in the drawings, the pivots 22 are located substantially midway between the top and the bottom of the front part of the back rest 16, i.e. substantially midway on the vertical extension of said back. The arms 26 are interconnected by means of a back frame 30, 32, in which a lower cross rod 32 passes behind the rear edge of the side pieces 18. The cross rod 32 may be "ice supported on shoulders 34 formed in blocks 36, the back side of which serve as protective wall engaging surfaces. In the day position shown in FIG. 1, however, the back is primarily supported on corner plates 38, which may be combined with the blocks 36. Straps 40 are interposed between the frame 12 and the rod 32, and other straps 42 between the rod 32 and points 44 on the interior sides of the side pieces 18 above the bearings 22. The straps 42 may be provided as prolongations of the strap 40 as indicated in dotted line in FIGURE 3.

Supposing the bed-clothes are held within the back as explained below with reference to FIG. 7 the way of operating the ottoman will be as follows:

With a hand behind the rear edge of the top piece 20 one pulls the back forwardly. Since the lower edges of the side pieces 18 are stopped by engaging the cross rod 32 this pull will result in a forward swinging movement of the entire back system around the pivots 28 to the position shown in FIG. 2, where the straps 40 are stretched out to prevent further swinging. It will be noted that, due to the inclination of the arms 26, the back will be somewhat raised in the position of FIG. 2.

Now, with the other hand under the lower edge of the front part of the back, this edge is pulled forwardly and upwardly as indicated with an arrow in FIG. 3, whereby the back is swung freely around the pivot pins 24 until the position shown in FIG. 4 is reached. In this position which corresponds to almost half a revolution the straps 42 will be stretched out around the rear edge of the top piece 20 so as to thereby prevent further swinging of the back.

Hereafter the entire back system is lowered back on the swing arms 26 to its original level as illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein the cross rod 32 isresting on the shoulders 32 while the top piece 20 touches the surface of the seat portion with its rear edge portion (now the front portion). The front side of the back now stands substantially vertically over the rear edge of the seat portion.

This operation of inverting the back is easily carried out in few seconds, and thereafter the magazine is directly accessible from the front side. In the night position the magazine back will occupy a small area only of the seat portion, corresponding to the small breadth of the top piece.

As shown in FIG. 6 a sheet 50 is secured to the interio edge of the top piece 20 and adapted to cover the seat portion as the lowermost layer of the bed-clothes. At the front edge it has a hanging portion 52 with a plate formed reinforcement 54. The sheet may be provided with end flaps 58.

Supposing the bed-clothes are positioned on the sheet 50 and are wanted to be packed together for converting the furniture to its day position, the reinforced part 52 of the sheet is folded in over the front edge of the bedclothes as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 6. Hereafter the bundle of bed-clothes is folded once or twice and tilted up into the magazine to the position shown in FIG. 7, where it is secured by means of for example straps 56 positioned below the sheet 50.

Hereafter the back is inverted to its day position in a manner similar to that already described, just the direction of inversion being opposite thereto.

It will be noted from FIG. 7, which corresponds to FIG. 5, that the bed-clothes are very easy to release from the magazine when the night condition is wanted; they roll downand almost make the bed automatically when the straps 56or other holding means-are released. v

It will be appreciated that the back shows full stability in both positions as far as influence during normal use is concerned.

The back or at least the front part thereof may be suspended in many different ways within the scope of the invention. Thus, the movement of the back may be a combined translatoric and rotating movement, whereby the actual swing axis need not being a middle-axis. Besides, the swing arms 26 are well suited to carry ar-rn rests in case this should be wanted. Such arm rests 17 and 19 are indicated in dotted outlines in FIGURES 1 and respectively.

In case of a swingable back body as shown in the drawing the back may also be of the box formed type just having a longitudinal opening in its back side, through which the bed-clothes may be taken in and out.

What I claim is: V

1. A sofa convertible to a bed, comprising a seat portion and a reversible hollow back rest portion, said 'hollow back rest portion being formed of a back piece, side pieces and a narrow top piece secured together to form said hollow back rest portion, said hollow rest portion being open at both the back and the bottom thereof when disposed in sofa position, an arm at each end of said sofa, said arms being journalled in a respective side piece at one end of each of said arms and the other end of said arm being journalled in a respective end of said seat portion to pivotally interconnect said back rest portion to said seat portion, a back frame interconnecting said one end of said arms, said back frame including frame members affixed to each of said arms and a cross rod affixed to said frame members and positioned thereby to rest on said seat portion and to engage said side pieces to position said back rest portion when disposed in sofa position, a first strap means coupled betweensaid seat portion and said cross rod, a second strap means coupled between said cross rod and said one ,end of each of said arms, said first strap means limiting the movement of said cross rod frame and arms as said back rest portion is pulled upwardly and forwardly, said sec-ond strap means limiting the rotational movement of said back rest portion about said one end of said arms so that said back rest portion may be rotated and positioned on said seat portion with said narrow top piece resting on the edge of said seat portion and with the open back thereof opening onto said seat portion.

2. A convertible lounge furniture having a seat portion and a hollow back rest, at least a front part of said back rest being mounted swingably between a day position and an inverted night position, said front part being vertically pivotally mounted in pivot means located substantially midway on the vertical extension of said hollow back rest, said pivot means being reciprocably supported relatively to said seat position so as to be displaceable between a first position relatively close to the vertical plane through the rear edge of said seat portion, a second position in front of said first position, and a third position relatively close to said vertical plane, said furniture having means for supporting said front part in the day position thereof in which said pivot means are located in said first position, means for guiding said pivot means from said first position to said second position in response to said front part being pulled forward over said seat portion, said pivot means being constructed so as to allow said front part to be swung to a substantially inverted position while said pivot means assume said second position, means for guiding said pivot means from said second position to said third position in response to said front part in its inverted position being moved backwards over said seat portion, and means for supporting said front part in said inverted night position in which said pivot means assume said third position and in which said front part assumes a substantially-vertical position with its lower edge situated adjacent the rear edge of said seat portion.

3. A ponvertible lounge furniture having a seat portion and a hollow back rest portion having a front part serving as a back rest member, said seat portion having a first supporting means for supporting said front part when resting thereon, said back rest portion extending upwardly from said seat portion in said rest position, at least said front part of said back rest portion being provided with laterally arranged pivot means situated substantially midway along said vertical extension of said back rest portion, said seat portion being provided with pivot bearings located below said pivot means and in front thereof when said front part assumes said rest position, said pivot means and said pivot bearings being interconnected by rigid lever means operable to swing in a substantially vertical plane around said pivot bearings from a first position in said rest position of said front part to a temporary front position in which said pivot means are spaced a distance from the vertical plane through the rear edge of said furniture corresponding to at least half the height of said front part of said back rest, said front part being invertibly pivotally mounted in said pivot means so as to be operable to swing upside down in said temporary front position of said lever means, said lever means being operable to swing back from said temporary front position with said front part in inverted position to a rear second position substantially corresponding to said first position, said seat portion having second means for supporting said inverted front part in said second position of said lever means.

4. A convertible furniture as claimed in claim 3, in which stop means are provided for limiting the swingability of said lever means beyond said temporary front position, and in which other stop means are provided for confining the swingability of said back rest front part within approximately 5. A convertible furniture having a seat portion, a hollow back rest serving as a container for bed clothes and of a substantial height relatively to the depth thereof, said back rest having a substantially plate formed front part serving as a cover plate for said container located thcrebehind in a cover position of said cover plate, said front part being connected to said seat portion by laterally arranged suspension means operable to guide said front part between said cover position and an open position in which said container is accessible from the front side of said furniture, a sheet secured along one edge to said container and of a size sufficient to cover at least a substantial part of said seat portion as the lowermost layer of said bed clothes, said sheet being broad enough to have a marginal portion extending beyond the front edge of said seat portion and being provided with a plate formed reinforcement along said marginal portion, and means for securing edgewise in said container a relatively flat pack of bed clothes rolled together around said plate formed reinfrocement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 448,151 3/1891 Kinder 5334 563,059 6/1896 Peck 553 X 1,034,253 7/1912 Klopping 5--59 X 1,271,725 7/1918 Kramer et al. 559 1,388,606 8/1921 Schick 559 1,686,384 10/1928 Lamb 559 X 2,660,734 12/1953 Dumble et al. 297-354 2,727,251 12/1955 Garland 559 X FOREIGN PATENTS 220,309 3/ 1962 Austria.

99,172 10/ 1961 Norway.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

R. B. FARLEY, Assistant Examiner. 

5. A CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A SEAT PORTION, A HOLLOW BACK REST SERVING AS A CONTAINER FOR BED CLOTHES AND OF A SUBSTANTIAL HEIGHT RELATIVELY TO THE DEPTH THEREOF, SAID BACK REST HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLATE FORMED FRONT PART SERVING AS A COVER PLATE FOR SAID CONTAINER LOCATED THEREBEHIND IN A COVER POSITION OF SAID COVER PLATE, SAID FRONT PART BEING CONNECTED TO SAID SEAT PORTION BY LATERALLY ARRANGED SUSPENSION MEANS OPERABLE TO GUIDE SAID FRONT PART BETWEEN SAID COVER POSITION AND AN OPEN POSITION IN WHICH SAID CONTAINER IS ACCESSIBLE FROM THE FRONT SIDE OF SAID FURNITURE, A SHEET SEUCRED ALONG ONE EDGE TO SAID CONTAINER AND OF A SIZE SUFFICCIENT TO COVER AT LEAST A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF SAID SEAT PORTION AS THE LOWERMOST LAYER OF SAID BED CLOTHES, SAID 